Homo antecessor finds its place in our family tree

The enigmatic hominin Homo antecessor has found its place in our family tree thanks to the 800,000-year-old proteins in fossil teeth. Researchers used mass spectrometry to analyse a sliver of enamel from a molar found in Spain’s Gran Dolina cave. The tooth reveals that H. antecessor was a close relative of the last common ancestor of humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans.